Last week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the Medium-Term Budget, which is tabled every year in October. In this podcast, I am joined by Gcobisa Magazi, director of public finance at National Treasury, to discuss the Medium-Term Budget.

Most people only really care about the February budget because that is where the minister announces the changes to taxes.

But the Medium-Term Budget is packed with really important information about how government is going to be collecting and spending our money over the next three years. It also gives us some idea about what we can expect in February and what taxpayers might be on the hook for.

In this discussion, we look at the significance of the budget, which is often mislabelled the “mini budget,” and explore its role as a policy statement outlining government priorities and fiscal strategies.

Key topics include the challenges of revenue collection, unexpected expenditures, and the government’s strategy to manage debt, which currently consumes 21% of the budget.

We also discuss the concept of fiscal anchoring, a legislative approach to ensuring sustainable fiscal policy, and the balancing act required to meet the needs of a financially vulnerable population while striving for a primary budget surplus.

Listen to this podcast for an insightful conversation on the intricacies of public finance and the importance of economic growth, and how the government is trying to balance debt management with essential social and infrastructure spending.